


Those Who Tell No Tales

by Long_Time_QT



Category: iZombie (TV)
Genre: Abduction, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Because Plot Convenience, Blackmail, Case Fic, Clive Knows About Zombies, Extortion, F/M, Head Injury, Human Ravi, Kidnapping, Love Confessions, Love is complicated, Major Character Injury, Major is Injured but He's Getting Better, Mutual Respect is Important in a Relationship, Post Season 2, Search for a Cure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-30
Updated: 2017-03-30
Packaged: 2018-10-12 21:12:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10499562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Long_Time_QT/pseuds/Long_Time_QT
Summary: Ravi is kidnapped and it's up to Liv to find him before it's too late





	

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, here's the thing about this fic:
> 
> 1) It's longer than intended
> 
> 2) I don't know much about Seattle PD policy except for their guns
> 
> 3) I know the bare minimum about a lot of things

Ravi scratched out a few more points in his notebook and verbally recorded the latest developments for the cure. He was so close he could feel it. The rats were still alive and as cognizant as they could be expected to be, but who knew how long that would last? Blaine was still having memory issues and the cure Major insisted on testing despite Ravi’s warnings had him bedridden for the past two weeks. Sure, he was getting better by the day, but it was taking an impossibly long time. Ravi couldn’t have that for Liv. Her cure had to be perfect.

 _Speaking of Liv_ , Ravi thought. He had no idea what to say to her. What could he say after last night’s awkward conversation? A whole night of thinking and he couldn’t for the life of him find the right words to say after their moment.

The sound of footsteps approaching interrupted his thoughts and he reflexively snapped his notebook shut and dropped it on the table. “I’ll be with you in a mo—“

Something cracked against the back of his head everything turned dark.

 

\--

 

“Ravi!” Liv called as she tentatively strolled into the lab. “Since you didn’t answer my text I just got you sesame seed. I hope you don’t mind.”

The morgue was empty except for the squeaking rats and the silent dead. Strange. Yesterday Ravi had said that he’d be in early to run some tests for the cure and he was generally good on his word. Liv looked around for any sign of her coworker. Maybe he was sleeping on the couch? No. Did he step outside? No. Was he just super involved with the rats and didn’t hear her? No.

God, where was he?

Liv was pondering thus until she noticed the rat enclosures were askew, like someone bumped into them. That’s when her eyes were drawn to the wastebasket beside the table to find Ravi’s notebook. Something dark settled in the pit of Liv’s stomach. Ravi would never throw out his notes on the cure. Even if Liv’s future (and the futures of every zombie out there) didn’t depend on it, he was dedicated to solving this puzzle.

She reached in and pulled the book out to read what Ravi had written last, hoping there was something there to give her insight. Apart from some impressive notations and Ravi’s familiar shorthand, there was nothing. That’s when she noticed the speck of blood on the floor.

She placed the book back in its proper place and pulled out her phone. Pressing his contact number, Liv hoped beyond hope that the sick feeling she had was just your run of the mill paranoia and that Ravi was just distracted with something else. Maybe the blood on the floor belonged to a rat and Ravi left for unrelated reasons. Maybe Major needed a little extra help this morning.

“I was wondering when you’d call,” said a man’s voice that was definitely not Ravi’s. “I have to admit, I was expecting this a little later. Quite the go-getter, aren’t you?”

“Who is this?” Liv demanded. She had a brief flashback to a similar conversation about Major and the same fear iced over her heart.

“That’s not important,” the voice said with an ease that was more akin to an old friend than a suspiciously nefarious stranger. “What is important is what I have to tell you. There’s going to be a body dropping by your morgue that met an end that was rather… gruesome.”

Liv drew a quick breath.

“Don’t worry,” the voice assured, “old friend of mine. No one you know. I just need your help with some paperwork. It would be in everyone’s best interest if the reports say this individual had a terrible accident rather than anything unseemly.”

“Why would I help you cover up a murder?” Liv asked, if only to be contrary. She had a feeling she knew exactly where this was going.

“Given that I have your boyfriend’s phone, do I really need to say it?”

“He’s n—“ Liv started, but stopped. That was not something that was going to help Ravi right now. It might even make things worse. “How do I know you have him? Alive?”

The voice sighed, “This is partly why I said you were early. He isn’t awake yet.”

“I’m not getting off the line until I know he’s okay,” Liv said as she squared her shoulders. Okay, so they wouldn’t see her do it, but at least she could convince herself she was strong.

“Hold on,” the voice said, sounding put upon. There was the sound of something being unzipped followed by an abrupt thud and a guttural cough. Liv held her breath as the sound of movement brought forward the sound of someone’s heavy breathing.

“Ravi?” she asked, her voice hopeful. There was a long, terrible silence before someone spoke.

“L-Liv?”

“Ravi,” Liv sighed with an apprehensive relief, “where are you? Do you know who took you?”

“Inna van,” Ravi said heavily. Liv’s brain supplied the word concussion. “S’loud… fair—“

“Ravi? Ravi!”

“Sorry, that’s all the time we have,” the strange voice returned. “Now, take care of our friend and we’ll take care of yours.”

“Okay,” Liv nodded, “I will. As long as you make sure his condition doesn’t get worse, I will.”

“Good,” the voice said with an obvious smile. “Oh, and just in case you’re only telling me what I want to hear, know that we’ve got eyes inside Seattle PD. We’ll know everything you do, everyone you talk to. And should you say anything untoward about where our dear doctor, well. His body may make it back to your table but his brain will make it to ours.”

If Liv’s blood weren’t already frozen, it would be now. Ravi… she couldn’t let that happen to him. She was still standing speechless when the voice returned.

“We’ll call you on a more secure line when we get confirmation of your work. You have until your shift ends to submit your report on our dead zombie.”

The line went dead and Liv quickly went back to redial. She couldn’t just leave it like that. The line dialed twice before it cut out. She redialed again. And again. And again. It was no use. Whatever they did to Ravi’s phone meant there was no way she could through to him or his captors.

She pulled up Clive’s information, thumb hovering over the number before turning her screen off. Clive would be at his desk right now and who knew who was watching him at the moment. Who else could she call? She couldn’t put Peyton in danger as well and Major was in no condition to do anything but recover.

She took a deep, wavering breath and found herself sitting on the couch with little memory of how she got there. Not that it mattered. There wasn’t much else to do except to wait for the body.

An hour later, her zombie arrived.

 

\--

 

Ravi tested the handcuffs binding his hands behind his back as carefully as he could. He’d seen enough hands damaged by accidental restraint tightening and general thrashing around to know that he did not fancy developing some kind of nerve impairment himself. Well, one set of hands in his career, but that was one set too many.

The people who took him, four he managed to count, had zipped the body bag he was in back up after the apparent leader kicked his chest to get him to talk to Liv. He just hoped that wherever they were bringing him housed someone who actually knew how to treat someone with a concussion and didn’t just decorate him with more black and blue badges of honor.

As they drove, Ravi tried to keep track of where they were headed, but in his disorientation he only managed to track a stop when they physically removed him from the van and into the trunk of a car where one of the female two captors took off. That hadn’t been a particularly enjoyable experience, but then, this morning had been a little less than enjoyable itself. To add insult to injury, they took his lab coat.

While they drove along in relative silence, Ravi found his thoughts shifting from what these people had in store for him to what Liv must be going through. From what he could gather from the whole telephone debacle, she had to violate her morals or she risked letting a microhorde of zombies have at him. She must be absolutely beside herself. Still, she was resourceful. He had every confidence in her abilities.

The trunk popped and strong hands pulled him out of the trunk and flung him over what he could only assume was someone’s shoulder. A wave of nausea washed over him and he hoped for his sake that he wouldn’t throw up while he was still in the bag. While he fought to keep from getting sick, his captors spoke.

“—if she doesn’t pull through we’re screwed.”

“I’m telling you,” said the man who had been on the phone with Liv, “she won’t back down. If there’s one thing I know, it’s people. As long as she thinks we do good by her, she’ll do good by us.” There was the sound of opening doors and lights clicking on. “Put the Doc in the back lounge there. Keep him out of the way.”

The wall of a man carrying him crossed the room and opened the door. There was another click of the lights and Ravi was lowered to the ground gently before the man unzipped the body bag.

“Thanks, mate,” Ravi said, blinking in the fluorescent light. “Thought for sure there’d be a bit more roughhousing.”

The man smiled down at him, all red-rimmed eyes and obviously died black hair, before roughly yanking the body bag out from under Ravi and sent him rolling into a table. After another moment of fighting a disorienting headache, Ravi nodded softly at the man.

“Glad to see you don’t disappoint.” The door swung shut and Ravi groaned. This zombie nonsense was just getting ridiculous.

 

\--

 

Liv took a deep breath and looked over the report one more time. She’s fudged the results and said that the deliberately bashed in brains of the zombie on the table was instead the accidentally bashed in brains of a human construction worker. It took some creativity on her part to explain away the crowbar shaped dent in his skull. The report was perfect. All it was missing was her signature.

Her pen hovered over the page as she willed herself to sign. It was just a few strokes of ink. She could do this. Just one signature… and letting a criminal get away with murder. Ravi had signed Lowell’s paperwork, why couldn’t she sign this?

Liv huffed and took a step back. As hard as it was on her, there was more to think about. Who knew what Ravi was going through right now? He was alone with a group of zombies who made it perfectly clear that they wanted to crack his head open like an egg. She had to sign. There was no choice. Besides, they could always launch an investigation later to get some kind of justice. Her reputation would be ruined, but Ravi would be safe.

She closed her eyes and thought of Ravi.

 

_“I should have your results in a few hours,” Ravi said to the detective standing beside the autopsy table, his hands gesturing in a way Liv always admired. “Likely natural causes, but I’ll let you know for sure in the morning.”_

_“Thanks, Doc,” the detective said with a smile. “I doubt it’s anything sinister, but it’s always good to get an official statement to prove it.”_

_“Right, well, I’ll just get to it,” Ravi smiled back at her. Oh god, the way he smiled. The detective said her goodbyes and left the morgue. As soon as the door closed, Ravi shuddered._

_“That woman gives me the creeps,” he admitted._

_“She creeps you out?” Liv teased. “You cut up corpses all day, your best friends either currently or used to eat brains, and you spend your free time hanging out with zombie rats with a tendency for biting.”_

_“I’m eclectic,” Ravi smirked before he turned back to the autopsy table. “Just be glad you haven’t worked with her yet.”_

_Liv stepped up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. She felt Ravi tense under her and twist to see as much behind him as he could without dislodging her._

_“Er, Liv? I’m about to open up an 84 year old woman. Are you okay?”_

_“Yeah,” Liv nodded and tightened her embrace. “Yeah, I’m fine it’s just, um… I’m fine.”_

_Ravi set down the bone saw he had been holding and gently turned around to face her, “Seriously, Liv. What brains are you on right now?”_

_“Why am I always reduced to what brains I’m on?” Liv pulled back enough to see his face. “I am still my own person, in case you forgot.”_

_“Sorry,” Ravi gently rested his hands on her upper arms, and god did it speak of warmth and comfort, “You know I didn’t mean it like that, right?”_

_“I know,” Liv sighed, taking a hand back to cover her face, “God, I know you wouldn’t.” She really wasn’t doing, well, whatever it was she was trying to do well at all. What was she trying to do exactly? Stupid touchy-feely brains._

_“Where is all this coming from?” Ravi’s brows drew together in beautiful concern. “Am I doing something else to make you feel like less of a person? Because whatever it is, tell me and I’ll do my best to stop.”_

_That was when Liv knew. Before she could stop herself, she was on her tiptoes and pressing her lips to Ravi’s. It wasn’t weird though, it felt… right. Good. Really good. Until that is, a few seconds later when Ravi hadn’t responded beyond turning into a living statue. She broke the kiss and lowered herself to a proper stand._

_“Sorry, I…” Liv pulled back completely and crossed her arms. “It’s been hard these past few weeks what with curing Major and the whole Max Rager fiasco. Not to mention my own problems with basically being another violently murdered person every few weeks.”_

_“I get that,” Ravi said with an expression that made Liv nervous, “but why the, er, the kiss?”_

_“I don’t know!” Liv started pacing. “I just, even since the beginning you’ve been a constant, a calming presence. You’ve been the eye of my hurricane. No matter how strange or heartbreaking or just all around chaotic things got you’ve been there for me with open arms and sunny understanding. And I’ve tried to move past these feelings, even managed to sometimes. But in the end they always come back to you. I can’t just keep ignoring them like this.”_

_“Liv…”_

_“And I know that we wouldn’t work out because you don’t see me that way, and things are complicated with our histories, and I’m infected and you’re not so we couldn’t even have a normal relationship. I don’t blame you for anything. I’m not even sure I—“_

_Ravi’s arms wrapping around her silenced the beginnings of her rambling and held her in one place. She felt secure. Safe. Real. It was different from any relationship she’d ever been in. With Major, she felt like she was living a dream. There in Ravi’s arms, she felt like she was home._

_“That’s not why we can’t,” Ravi said into her hair._

_“But there is a reason,” Liv blinked away tears._

_“I’m your boss,” Ravi said simply. “This kind of power dynamic rarely works out in real life relationships. You are wonderful, smart, daring, insanely fiery,” Liv laughed weakly as Ravi continued, “but I can’t be that guy. Friends? That’s one thing. Something more? I just can’t take advantage of you like that.”_

_“You wouldn’t be taking advantage,” Liv argued. “This isn’t a ‘there’s only two sides’ thing where my opinion doesn’t matter.”_

_“I never said that. I just—“_

_“I get that you have issues, but can’t we at least talk about it like adults instead of saying ‘it’s against the rules and that’s that’?”_

_Ravi was quiet for so long, Liv doubted she’d get any sort of answer. Well, she didn’t have to stand here like this and humiliate herself further. “I have to go,” she stepped out of Ravi’s embrace. “I think I’ve embarrassed myself enough for one evening.”_

_“Liv, wait,” Ravi reached out and grabbed her hand. “Let’s discuss this in the morning. I’ll be in a about an hour early to work on the cure anyway and it will give us both time to think about… things. Besides, now isn’t really the best moment what with me about to go elbow deep into Mrs. Demise and your shift ending in,“ Ravi checked his watch, “half an hour.”_

_“Right, yeah, okay,” Liv nodded. “Her name is really Mrs. Demise?”_

_“I couldn’t have made this up if I tried,” Ravi smiled softly. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”_

_“See you tomorrow.” Liv walked toward the exit, feeling something both lift and weigh down on her chest._

_“Liv!”_

_She stopped and spun back to see Ravi looking at her with one of the saddest looks she’s ever seen on his face. He hesitated, one arm outstretched, before he steeled himself and brought his hands to his sides._

_“I’ll, er, I’ll see you tomorrow.”_

_“Promise?”_

_“Promise.”_

When she opened her eyes, she had signed the report.

 

\--

 

Ravi woke up from his nap as soon as he’d realized he’d fallen asleep. So much for staying awake and alert. At least the headache didn’t feel as urgent as it was before. Still, he would feel much better if someone would check him over. Or uncuff him. Or just let him go altogether.

Still, the least he could do was try to make himself more comfortable. With some mild contortions and fighting back a few pained groans, Ravi managed to get his hands under his cuffed feet and to his front. He fell back, hands falling to his chest and he huffed a relieved sigh. His aching shoulders screamed at him but this had been a good move all around.

Once he felt recovered enough, he moved on to phase two. He rolled over and pushed himself up to his hands and knees before using the table to help him all the way to his feet. He felt a little foolish hopping over to the door, but if it was unlocked it might just be worth the silliness.

It wasn’t, and he rested his forehead against the door in defeat. Maybe there was food or something in the fridge. He hopped over to check only to find it empty except for half a dozen brains neatly stored in Tupperware containers. He was even less fortunate in his attempts to find anything that could be used to pick the lock or shim the cuffs open. Not that he knew how to anyway, but he could have at least tried. The thumbnail on that YouTube video he didn’t watch was surprisingly informative.

When the pounding in his head had grown more insistent than he could handle, he decided it was probably best to take a rest. After a brief stop at the sink to have a much-needed drink, he sat down at the table and vaguely wondered how long it would take him to go insane. There wasn’t much else to do besides sit around and count the real estate magnets on the fridge.

Maybe if he played A New Hope in his mind. He rested his head against the table and closed his eyes. He barely got as far as ‘in a galaxy far, far away’ before his thoughts shifted back to Liv.

 

\--

 

By the time Liv’s shift was over, her chest felt tighter than a rope stretched over Niagara Falls. She submitted the report well ahead of time but the waiting was somehow worse than actually lying about a murder. How long would it take for them to know that she did what they said? When would they call? What if they didn’t and the next time she saw Ravi was at his autopsy?

With one last look around the morgue, she turned on her heel and left. Walking out through the precinct, she couldn’t help but feel everyone’s eyes on her. She couldn’t tell if they were looking at her because she was being watched or if she just looked strange. Well, stranger than they were used to.

She was almost to the door when she heard Clive call out to her.

“Liv!”

She internally cursed before turning back around and making her way to his desk where he sat. She waved at him awkwardly and adjusted her grip on her purse. “Hey, Clive. How’s it going?”

“Ah, it’s been alright,” Clive said leaned back in his chair. “Apparently there was a death at a construction site that was supposed to be my case until it was reassigned. You and Ravi see him down in the crypt?”

Something twisted in Liv’s gut as she nodded, “Yeah. Well, I did. Ravi, uh, he wasn’t here today.”

“Hey, uh, everything okay?” Clive asked with a note of concern. “You seem kind of… wait,” he leaned forward to whisper, “is this a, um, a brain thing or is something going on?”

Liv took a step back and glanced around the bull pin. No one seemed to be paying them any attention, but she couldn’t risk getting too close.

“I’m fine,” she smiled softly. “Just a little tired.”

“Okay,” Clive said slowly, suspiciously. “If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure,” Liv assured a little more stiffly than she meant. “I’ve just gotta go take care of Major. Well, help take care of Major.” There was a bit of an awkward pause before Liv waved goodbye and walked away.

 

\--

 

Clive watched Liv walk away, his worry increasing with the distance between them. Something in his gut told him that this wasn’t her usual strangeness making an appearance. No, this was some weird zombie crap that she just wasn’t letting him in on.

“Clive,” a voice interrupted his thoughts and he turned to face the detective standing at his shoulder holding a couple snacks from the vending machine. He smiled up at her.

“Mallory, about time you got back with my funyuns. You sneak off to work more on my case?”

“Damn thing kept eating my dollar,” Mallory smiled as she dropped the package on Clive’s desk and nodded after Liv. “Everything okay?”

Clive looked back at the closing door and furrowed his brow. “Yeah, maybe.”

 

\--

 

Liv opened the door of Major and Ravi’s house and was met with a distinctly empty feeling. There was so much of Ravi everywhere and despite the crushing reality of his absence she could feel him like he was standing right there next to her. The fact that he wasn’t was like a knife in her chest.

She took a deep breath and climbed the stairs with building trepidation. She had to tell Major. If there was one other person she wanted in the know, it was him. He at least deserved to know why his best friend wasn’t coming home.

“Ravi?” Major said when Liv was just outside his door.

She crept sheepishly into his room where he was tucked in bed and laying on his back. His confused gaze focused on her intensified her uneasiness with what she had to tell him. “Me, actually.”

“Oh,” Major said softly. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

“So, uh. I’m guessing your conversation with Ravi went well?”

Liv bit her lip nervously. “He told you about that?”

“Yea, well,” Major seemed resigned. “He wanted my opinion on the subject and to keep me in the loop. The words ‘bro code’ came up a couple times, but I let him know that we’re all mature people and whatever happens between you two happens.”

Liv crossed her arms and dropped her gaze to her feet. “Major, there’s something I have to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“Ravi… he’s missing.”

“What?” Major demanded and pushed himself up on his elbows. “How is he missing? What happened?”

“I called his phone and some strange man told me that if I didn’t fudge an autopsy report, he and his crew would—well, he promised they’d eat him.”

In lieu of responding, Major pushed himself off the bed and to his feet. Immediately, his complexion turned sallow and his legs trembled under the weight of his body. Liv lunged forward in preparation of a collapse.

“Major—“

"We have to get to him,” Major said in a winded voice. “I don’t care how, just that we get to—“

He barely managed to make it to the stairs before his knees gave out and fell into Liv’s waiting arms. With more calmness than she felt, she pushed him back toward his room.

“Major, you’ve just been cured and you’re in no condition to—“

“Don’t tell me what to do, Liv,” Major fought against her grip to no avail. “There has to be some way to find him. Does Clive know about this?”

Liv hesitated, “No, he doesn’t.”

“Why the hell not? Dammit, why wouldn’t you go straight to him the second you knew Ravi was missing? What, did you have a dose of stupidity or sociopath or something?”

A flash of seeing Ravi in a hole with Marcy burst in Liv’s mind and she fought the wave of crushing guilt as it washed over her. “Clive doesn’t know because they’ll kill Ravi if I spoke to anyone else at the station about it. They said they have eyes inside the SPD.”

“What, you believe them?”

“It’s not like I can go around asking, ‘hey, are you a dirty cop?’ to everyone on the force! These are people who broke into the morgue and stole an entire person without fear of consequences. Something tells me they knew what they were doing.”

“Well have you tried tracking his phone? Don’t you know his Find My Phone password?”

“I tried, but they must have destroyed it somehow. I don’t have the resources to properly search for him by myself. If I knew a hacker or ate their brains then maybe, but for now all we can do is wait for them to call back.”

Finally, Major allowed Liv to take him back and lower him onto his bed.

“God, I thought waiting around to get better was hell,” Major murmured as Liv tucked his sheets around him. “When will they call back?”

“I don’t know. Soon, I hope.”

“Right,” Major nodded solemnly.

Liv checked his temperature and took his vitals to record in his logbook. So far he was still human, and still getting stronger. Liv felt a dull sense of pride at Major’s progress. Soon he’d be ready physical therapy and if he did well in that, he’d be back to his full range of motion and stamina after six weeks.

“Everything looks good here,” Liv put the book back in Major’s beside drawer. “How about I make you soup for dinner?”

“Sounds good,” Major replied. Liv was halfway to the door when he spoke again. “Hey, I, uh. I want you to know that I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Liv said as her eyes burned with the tears she’d spent all day fighting. “I know you’re worried about him too.”

 

\--

 

Ravi tapped his bound feet against the chair leg in what was beginning to morph into the Imperial March rather than sporadic knocking. He had to have been there for hours, maybe even days. The only thing he knew for sure was that he still hadn’t gotten his breakfast yet.

The door opened and the smell of pizza was enough to make Ravi want to cry.

“Oh thank god, I was _starving_ ,” Ravi pulled himself upright as his three captors entered the room. The pale leader who spoke to Liv, the large wall of a man with very obviously died black hair, and the young woman with sunken eyes. Looking past them, he noted that the windows in the room beyond which he could only assume was a vacant storefront opened out into a darkened street. “Is it night already?”

The leader dropped the box on the table and came up beside Ravi while the other two busied themselves with pulling out paper plates and the brains from the fridge. He grabbed Ravi’s wrists firmly and uncuffed him only to pull his arms back again to cuff him to the chair.

“I’ll just serve myself then,” Ravi sighed. The woman laughed as she took a seat to Ravi’s left and opened a brain container to mash it with a plastic knife.

“I like him,” she said. “He’s got wit.”

“Yeah, I’m sure it’s the ‘wit’ you like,” wall-man rolled his eyes and set three plates down at each spot that wasn’t Ravi’s. “Just remember that we have to keep this one safe until we get word that it’s safe to get rid of him.”

“And just remember we wouldn’t have had to take this measure in the first place if you hadn’t messed up and let David get found after your bout of rage,” the woman snapped back fiercely. “Seriously, you couldn’t have taken a little time to at least incriminate someone other than yourself?”

“Before you two tear each other’s heads off,” the leader opened the pizza box. “At least get something in your stomachs.”

The woman glared once more at the wall-man before dumping pieces of brain matter one the entirety of the pizza. Well, so much for that. She must have noticed Ravi’s disappointment or discomfort because she smiled and grabbed a slice to hold near his face.

“Ever think of trying some of this yourself?”

Ravi turned his head away and shook his head. “Can’t say I have. Well, except for an incident involving a rat but that was more of a scientific curiosity than any actual desire to partake.”

The woman raised her eyebrows and took her slice back for a healthy bite. The other two were mostly focused on eating their pizza while Ravi watched in the awkward silence.

“So,” Ravi said before he could stop himself. “What’s everyone’s name?”

The leader cocked his head, “Why does it matter?”

“Well I can’t very well keep calling you all ‘leader’ or ‘wall-man’ in my head. That gets confusing.”

The leader laughed, “Fine. It’s Jack. You can call the big guy Trent and the lady Jenna.”

“I see we’re going with aliases then.”

“I’m afraid so.” Jack nodded and went back to his pizza.

“And your cop friend? Should I be using an alias for her as well?”

“I’ve got to say, that makes this burgeoning friendship a little difficult,” Ravi deadpanned. “Maybe you should just let me go and we can quit while we’re ahead.”

Trent sniggered. “I don’t know. I kind of like having an ME on retainer.”

Ravi felt a weight settle in his chest. “Oh, you really wouldn’t long term. I mean, we’re flighty, we have short attentions spans, and really, there’s a reason we don’t work with the living.”

“Good thing we’re not,” Jack smiled. “Besides, it’s really not up to you, is it?”

“I’m just saying you can’t count on Liv to lie for you,” Ravi insisted. “We’re not even together.”

“Well, we know she’s lied once,” Jenna said. “We just got the confirmation from our source.” Ravi felt like the floor dropped out from beneath him as Jenna leaned forward with a wicked grin. ”And we get the feeling she’ll do it again.”

 

\--

 

Liv paced the floor of the morgue feeling like she was going out of her mind. Last night had been one of the worst nights for sleep she’s ever had. No matter how she had tossed and turned she couldn’t stop thinking of Ravi and the fact that no one had called her yet. It was about noon when she started considering just roaming the streets and calling Ravi’s name that her phone screen lit up with an unknown number.

“Hello?” she answered on the first ring.

“Someone’s impatient,” the voice on the phone was downright jovial and it incensed Liv to no end. “Good to see we placed our faith in the right person.”

“I did what you asked, now when are you giving Ravi back?”

“Who said we’re giving him back?”

“W-what?” Liv felt the air being torn from her lungs. “No, I did what you asked. I put the paperwork through. You have to give him back!”

“But we might need you again,” the voice said. “We’ll take good care of him in the meantime.”

The line went dead and Liv clicked redial. When there was no answer, she threw her phone in the general direction of the couch and fell to her knees. Ravi was supposed to come back. He was supposed to come back.

“Liv?”

Liv looked up to find Clive walking toward her and holding a piece of paper. He stopped a few feet from her and bit his lip.

“Funny thing,” he said, gesturing with the paper. “I had a look at Dr Chakrabarti’s time slips. He clocked in yesterday morning, but never clocked out. You said that he wasn’t here at all. Want to try explaining that?”

Liv took a shuddering breath and realized at that moment that she was crying. She wiped her tears and pushed herself to her feet. “Ravi…” she began. “He was taken yesterday morning by a group of zombies. They’ve been trying to blackmail me into covering up their murders, starting with your construction non-accident.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Clive demanded.

“They told me they were watching me. They have eyes in the SPD.”

Clive threw the print out away and covering his mouth with his hand before balling it into a fist. He seemed to be thinking hard. Finally, he turned to face her.

“We’ll find him, Liv. I promise.”

Liv nodded, feeling hollow.

“Alright,” Clive continued, “we have to work fast. How did the kidnappers contact you?”

“They called me from his phone but they destroyed it right after. They called me from an unknown number just now.”

“Did they let him speak to you?”

“Yea,” Liv thought back to their brief conversation. “We didn’t exchange many words.”

“Well, what words did you exchange?”

“Uh, he said that he was in a van. That it was loud. He said something was fair right before they took the phone away from him.”

“Strange, why would they take it away from him at that moment?”

“I…” Liv thought past the emotional aspects of the call to focus on the facts. “They did seem eager to get him off the phone. Like he was about to say something to give them away.”

“Fair, fair,” Clive said thoughtfully. “But we already know they’re zombies. Did anyone know when you’d be in? Anyone who could have helped in the planning of the abduction?”

“There was a detective the night before,” Liv suddenly realized. “For a different case and Ravi said she creeped him out. She left but she could have been listening. Mallory.”

“Oh shit,” Clive cursed. “She’s the detective who took over my case. She’s fair!”

“How is she fair?”

“Her full name is Mal—“

A click of a gun caught their attention. They turned toward the morgue entrance to see a woman pointing a silenced 9mm Smith & Wesson square at them with a cold glint in her brown eyes.

“Mallory Fairweather,” she said taking a few steps forward. “Cheers.”

 

\--

 

“Liv!” Ravi jolted awake. Which was a terrible decision because his hands were still cuffed to the chair behind him. He groaned and rolled his shoulders back. The door clicked shut and Ravi looked over to see Jenna standing there with a worrying expression on her face.

“Not quite,” Jenna walked over to the table and sat down beside him. “But I could be. If you want.”

“Oh dear lord,” Ravi let his head drop. “Let me guess. My raw animal magnetism and machismo in the face of danger has made you irresistibly attracted to me?”

“That or I just have a thing for other girls’ boyfriends,” Jenna moved her chair closer. “Is this okay?”

“Not really, no,” Ravi shook his head. “Downright uncomfortable actually.”

“I don’t understand this Liv girl,” Jenna said as she run her fingers through Ravi’s hair as he pulled away as best he could. “If I were her I would have turned you first thing. Maybe she doesn’t really love you.”

“It’s not really a matter of love.”

Jenna laughed like Ravi had said something funny. “I only stopped by for a short break. You know that the other two were talking about eating your brain later.”

“Oh,” Ravi nodded. “Well, that may conflict with my plans of not getting my brain eaten. Would they consider a rain check?”

“I could just make your brains unappetizing,” Jenna pouted and Ravi felt her nail lightly pressing into the back of his neck. “Darren, or Jack as you know him, turned me and my boyfriend after he and David got into a fight with a Lucky U dealer. It’s really not so bad once you get used to it.”

“I think I’ll pass.”

“Aren’t you tired of worrying if your zombie girlfriend is going to turn you? Don’t you want the chance for a normal relationship?”

“Normal is all relative, really.” Ravi said as his heart rate shifted into high gear. “Didn’t you say you were busy?”

“Such a good listener,” Jenna said, running her finger along the back of his neck in a way that burned with the intensity of his discomfort, and got to her feet. “See you later, Ravi.”

 

\--

 

“Put the gun down, Mallory,” Clive said, raising a hand in a placating gesture. “You don’t have to do this.“

“Oh, but I do,” Mallory took a few more steps closer. “I can’t very well have you arresting my dealers on a murder charge, can I? Withdrawal isn’t a good look on a homicide detective. The only thing worse is taking drugs.”

“Committing a homicide isn’t a good look either,” Liv growled. “Where is Ravi?”

“Dr Chakrabarti is safe, for now. I can’t promise he’ll remain that way for long. Unless our friend here wants to drop the investigations, or just to the floor.”

“Brace yourself,” Liv quickly said to Clive before pushing him into the break area and started walking toward Mallory. The surprised woman took a shot at Liv and that’s when things got intense. When Liv came to, she had a bullet in her shoulder and had a screaming Mallory pinned to the ground while Clive stood over them with his gun at the ready.

“Could have warned me about the pushing,” Clive said as he took out his handcuffs.

“I said ‘brace yourself’,” Liv rolled Mallory over and took the cuffs to restrain her. “I don’t think I could have been any clearer than that in the moment.”

“What are you?” Mallory asked, trembling.

“Aw, what the matter?” Liv crooned. “Didn’t your friends tell you what they were?”

“They’re not my friends,” Mallory shook her head. “They’re just my dealers and they’ve been acting as my CI’s off the books. I have no idea what they get up to and as long as they do good by me, I do good by them.”

“And doing good means murder, right?” Clive asked as Liv pulled Mallory to her feet.

“You don’t have anything on me,” Mallory said quickly. “You can’t take me in for questioning without risking the Doc’s life or showing off this freak’s lack of blood.”

“We have enough to bring you in for questioning,” Clive said as he put on a latex glove and picked up Mallory’s gun. “Didn’t you read our policy of firearms? While you are authorized to carry your weapon, according to Seattle you’re not authorized to modify it unless it’s done so by the Firearms Training Squad. I’d say adding a silencer counts as a modification, don’t you Dr Moore?”

“I would have to agree, Detective Babineaux,” Liv responded.

“That, added to our statement tat you threatened us with said weapon when we discovered your involvement with the disappearance of Dr Chakrabarti, makes for enough grounds to launch into an investigation on you and your personal life. How does _that_ look on a homicide detective?”

The blood brained from Mallory’s face and Clive shrugged. “Tell us where Ravi is, and I can guarantee that the both of us together won’t tell anyone about your involvement or your attempt on our lives.”

“Or if you tell us, I promise won’t eat you,” Liv said and bared her teeth.

“Okay!” Mallory squealed. “Okay, he’s at a vacant store property on 3rd, just around and down from Moore Theatre. It was called ‘Now or Never’ before it went out of business.”

“Ironic name for a store that went out of business,” Liv said. “How many people are involved with taking him?”

“Three. Two men and a woman. As far as I know, they’re the only ones.”

“I can take them,” Liv said to Clive. “If I take them by surprise and go full-on zombie mode, I should be able to take them. We don’t need any officers getting hurt or turned.”

“Are you on crazy brain right now?” Clive exclaimed. “I’m going with you.”

“What about her?” Liv pointed nodded at Mallory. “What are we just going to bring her along?”

“She can stay in the back of the cruiser,” Clive took Mallory from Liv and urged her forward. “I’ll call for backup in transit to cover our asses. The less weird we have to explain away, the better.”

“Fair enough,” Liv agreed and they started walking toward the back exit. “And then we book her, right?”

“Right.

“Wait, what?” Mallory shrieked. “I thought you said—“

“I said we wouldn’t tell anyone together,” Clive said, urging her forward. “I didn’t say we wouldn’t talk about it separately.”

 

\--

 

Clive followed his navigation down the streets in his cruiser, Liv sitting in the passenger seat and Mallory in the back. As they got closer to Now or Never, he radioed for backup in a kidnapping case. They were breaking enough protocol as it was, Clive didn’t have to get in any deeper with his bosses.

They pulled up to a spot down the street from the location, just as he finished giving dispatch the lowdown on the situation and Liv was about bolt from the vehicle. He reached out to grab her blazer before she could.

“What are you doing?” Liv asked in a tone of indignation.

“I, uh, Idon’t know a lot about this zombie stuff, but if things get too intense in there I want you to let me handle it. I’m the one with the weapon and the training for this kind of thing.”

“Fat chance, but thank you for the concern.”

“I’m just saying that whatever we find in there, just know that I’ve got your back.”

That seemed to break through Liv’s ‘do or die’ mindset and her expression grew almost vulnerable with the unsaid reality of what they might find. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “Let’s do this, partner.”

 

\--

 

Ravi had been contemplating the textured surface of the table when he heard the start of a shouting match. All hell broke loose in the room beyond as things were apparently thrown, bumped into, or broken and there was this distinct sound of growling. He listened intently, trying to make out what was being said when the first gunshot rang out.

“The head! Aim for the head!”

Liv?

“I’m doing it! Do you not see me doing it?”

Clive?

Something thumped against the doors and Ravi heard the lock click as someone on the other side opened it. He got a brief glimpse of Jenna’s face before she was shot in the shoulder and she went full on zombie. Her glowing red eyes narrowed on him and she lunged forward.

“No!” Ravi shouted and twisted in his seat, knocking his sharply on his back, jarring his injuries, and dodging what otherwise would have been a horrible facial deconstruction. Jenna landed down by Ravi’s feet with what sounded like a painful thud. When she recovered, she rounded on him.

“Liv!” Ravi shouted and stopped Jenna’s advancement with his feet to her chest. “LIV!”

There was another growl and a flash of white hair and black clothing knocked Jenna over and away from Ravi. His breath came out in a huff and he couldn’t be sure if it was from relief from exertion or just relief.

He watched as Liv, as red eyed and pale as her opponent, broke a chair leg and repeatedly hit Jenna over the head in a series of horrible cracks. When Jenna stopped moving, Liv sat there straddling her chest and huffing breath after heavy breath.

“Liv,” Ravi said softly and Liv’s head snapped toward him, still red eyed and animalistic. “I am so glad to see you. Come back to me, now.”

Liv’s usual hue took over her skin and the red vanished from her eyes while her expression went from violent rage to the face of a person Ravi would only be able to describe as ‘heartfelt’. Liv rushed to his side, set him and his chair upright, and started checking his vitals with an urgent desperation.

“Where does it hurt most? Are you feeling nauseated? Do you remember everything they did to you?”

“Just, hold on a minute,” Ravi said, urging her to look him in the eye. “Please, I need to tell you something.”

“What is it?” Liv said, absently placing her hand on his knee.

“We didn’t finish our conversation.”

“This can wait, let’s just get you—“

“I’m sorry.” There was a tense silence where Liv held his gaze with sadly perplexed eyes. “I said that we couldn’t be together because I didn’t want to enter a relationship with a power imbalance. I’ve seen relationships like these fail horribly and I never wanted that for us. But I’ve had a lot of time to think about it in… however long it’s been.”

“Really, Ravi, we can do this when you’re, uh, less traumatized.”

“Please, Liv. Just, let me say this. Then you can fret and fear to your heart’s content, but these are things I need to tell you. Please.”

Liv took a deep breath, “Okay.”

“Liv, you make every day worth it. I have never met anyone who is clever, and fun, and awe-inspiring the same way you are. Even the changes each brain brings can’t overshadow just how good and how wonderful you are. You inspire me to be the best version of myself and when I’m with you, I’m at peace.”

Liv blinked watery eyes and a tear ran down her very pale blushing cheek.

“I would have come around eventually, I hope, but being here in a place where             I was trapped let me get over myself and realize that I would never make you feel this way. Even in a small capacity, I could never do anything to make you feel helpless, and I wouldn’t ever want to. You and I would be just that. Just us two. And it wouldn’t matter that we could never do anything but kiss until I discover the cure. I want you for you. I want you for as long as you’re willing to have me.”

Liv laughed, “Getting a little touchy-feely there.”

“If I haven’t ruined this by being a complete cock, would you still—“

Liv silenced him with a kiss. It was just as surprising as the first and just as wonderful. Only this time, there was no underlying voice in his head telling him to stop because they were destined to fail. He kissed back with a fervor and ferocity he didn’t think he’d be able to muster.

“Whoa, cool it,” Clive said from the doorway, thus ruining the moment. They broke their kiss and the smiles they cast at each other spoke of secrets only a couple could share. “If you two can hold on until I take off those handcuffs, I’d be beyond thankful.”

“Hater,” Ravi said, never taking his eyes off Liv as Clive undid the cuffs around his hands. “If you think I’m not going to spend every moment from here until forever making up for being a complete idiot, you are sorely mistaken.”

“Within reason,” Liv corrected as Ravi rolled his aching shoulders and Clive moved to his feet. “We can’t afford to go completely overboard.”

“That might not be much of a problem,” Clive said, pulling up the pant leg of Ravi’s now free limbs to reveal three horizontal scratch marks standing out in bloody contrast to his brown skin.

“Oh, hell,” Ravi reached down and fingered the edges of the ragged skin. “I didn’t even feel it. It must have just happened. I can’t—“ he looked up to see Liv looking at him with large impossibly expressive eyes “— Liv, I can’t—“

“It’s okay,” Liv pulled him into a stand and hugged him close. “It’s okay.”

 

\--

 

Liv walked Ravi through the front door of his house a couple hours later. It turned out that giving a statement and actually explaining what the hell was going on was a timely process that ended with a lot of shouting and threats of suspension. Self-defense had been largely accepted as an excuse for all the rule breaking, but the amount of paperwork Liv would have to complete was just a slap on the wrist compared to what could have happened.

Now that that storm had passed (for now), she was left to focus on what did happen. Ravi was oddly quiet on the ride to pick up Liv’s car and some brains, and then the subsequent ride home. It wasn’t because he was angry with her, she knew that, but the silence only served to amplify the guilt manifesting in her heart. If only she had gotten to him sooner.

“Liv?” Major called out as soon as the door closed.

“What, I’m gone for one night and you’ve already replaced me?” Ravi shouted up the stairs. “I thought what we had was special!”

“Ravi?” There was a thump from upstairs and Liv winced in sympathy.

“We’ll come to you,” she shouted.

When Major saw Ravi he threw himself at the man and wouldn’t let go until Ravi pointed out that he was still a little battered up.

“Sorry,” Major said, pulling away. “I just can’t believe you’re really here.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Liv argued playfully.

“Not that I didn’t believe you could do it,” Major assured, hugging Liv next. “I knew you that if anyone could bring him home safe, it would be you.”

“About that,” Liv said, breaking the embrace. “There’s something we need to tell you.”

Major took the news a little hard, offering many sympathetic platitudes and promises to help in any way he could.

“I remember what it was like,” he said to Ravi. “I know Liv will be able to help you through most of this, but I’m here for you if you ever need a second opinion or just need some good old fashioned guy time, I’m here for you.”

“Thanks,” Ravi nodded. “Though, no cravings or other zombie-isms yet.”

“It can take a few hours,” Liv touched Ravi’s arm. “I’ve got brains downstairs for when the hunger starts.”

“Mrs. Demise?” Ravi wrinkled his nose.

“It won’t be so bad,” Liv assured. “But we can worry about that later. I’ll look you over and then we’ll get some sleep.”

Liv and Ravi both turned to Major and an odd sort of awkwardness descended upon them. Major glanced between them and nodded. “Yeah, go ahead. I’m happy for you both.”

“Are you sure?” Ravi asked.

“I’m sure,” Major said, sounding completely genuine. “You two just make sense. Zombie-ness notwithstanding. I think you’ll make each other really happy.”

“Thank you for being so good about this,” Liv said. “I know this must be awkward.”

“I’ll get over it,” Major smiled and kissed her cheek. “Good night Liv, Ravi.”

 

\--

 

Ravi stared at the ceiling with Liv lying in his bed next to him. While she seemed perfectly content to sleep, her arms wrapped around his torso as though to reassure herself even in sleep that he was still there, he couldn’t manage to close his eyes for long.

He just kept waiting for the change to take hold. Nine o’clock turned to ten. Then eleven. Then twelve. By the time one in the morning hit, Ravi was a live wire of anxiety. He expected to feel something. Or even notice some change in his vitals as he recorded his state every half hour in the small notebook in his bedside table.

Maybe he just needed to eat something.

Carefully disentangling himself from Liv, he crept out of his room and downstairs to the kitchen. The fridge contained a few containers of leftovers and drawers of health food, along with its newest addition, a container with one human brain.

He picked up the brain container and carefully peeled off the lid. It didn’t look very appetizing. With a bit of hesitation, he sniffed the brain to find it smelled just as revolting as the brain he’d sniffed when he feared the zombie infection was transferable between species.

The realization hit him like a bolt of lightning.

 

\--

 

Liv’s eyes fluttered open in the morning light, almost glad that she was given the day off to cope with the emotional strain of the last couple days. As grew more aware of her surroundings, Liv noticed something was wrong. As soon as the realization hit, she knew.

“Ravi!”

She shot up in bed and wildly turned her head about, searching the room for some sign that last night hadn’t been a dream. Her eyes finally landed on a note with Ravi’s handwriting. Placing a hand on her heart she picked up the slip of paper and started to read.

 

_‘Liv,_

_I’m fine! Just getting that out of the way because I know you’ll worry if you wake up and I’m not there. I just hit a breakthrough in the night and I’m at the morgue to test my theories._

_I wanted to make you breakfast, but I had no idea when you’d be awake. So take this note as an I.O.U for one breakfast in bed to be redeemed at any time you see fit._

_Anyway, come down to see me and (hopefully) I’ll have a surprise for you._

_All my love,_

_Ravi’_

Liv smiled and checked the clock. The digital glow read 8:23am. She supposed she had time to shower and get dressed before the separation anxiety she’s apparently developed grew too strong.

Showering had been fine with the smell of Ravi’s shampoo taking the edge off, but by the time she was on the road, she felt her stomach flip-flopping. That was one thing she would have to work on when the fear of losing him wasn’t quite so fresh in her mind.

She all but ran into the morgue and was relieved to find Ravi standing there over his rats and going over his notes. She took a moment to admire him working on his own. It was like he was in his own little world and it was beautiful, almost fragile.

The moment didn’t last long before he noticed her and his face light up in the most radiant of smiles that nearly knocked her off her feet. It was about that moment that she realized he looked the same as he always had.

“Your hair…” she walked down the stairs and crossed the morgue, “it’s exactly the same.” She stopped just shy of him and reached out to touch his hair. “Why haven’t you changed?”

“That’s what I realized, “ he said excited and grabbed her hand to lead her to the rats. “When the deadly smallpox virus was running rampant, it was observed that milkmaids who has been exposed to cowpox were immune.”

“The origin of the first vaccine,” Liv clued in. “You’re a milkmaid? How?” Ravi was about to explain when it suddenly made sense. “The rat bite!”

“Yes!” Ravi exclaimed. “Exactly. Zombie rat virus, which I’m going to take the liberty of calling _Immortuos Rodentia_ , acted as an inoculation against the zombie human virus. Human zombie virus? Whichever sounds better. I’m immune!”           

“Oh my god,” Liv laughed and brought her hands to her mouth. “That’s amazing!”           

“It gets better,” Ravi said. “I’ve taken samples of my blood and for the past—“ he looked at his watch “—eight hours, I’ve been analyzing my blood’s reaction to isolate and observe my natural defences. From the information I’ve gathered, combined with the advancements I’ve made with the cure. I think I have a template for the perfect cure.”           

“From antibodies?”           

“Well, I figure if antibody treatment can have significant effects on HIV, I could make it work with the zombie virus somehow.”           

“And you’re sure it will work?”           

“See for yourself,” Ravi gestured at the containment unit behind him. Liv walked closer and peered in to see a once completely white rat now sporting tufts of brown fur and one of its eyes was a mix of pink and black.           

“Oh my god,” Liv placed a hand on the glass and just stared.           

“It’s been getting more rat-rat since the cure was first injected half an hour ago and so far, no adverse effects. Still, there’s no guarantee this is the perfect cure. We’ll need to go through months of rigorous testing, but I feel this one is the one. If my gut is right, we should have it ready for you in a year. Possibly.”           

Liv straightened up and spun to pull Ravi into a deep, wonderful kiss that was more amazing than all of their past kisses. A feat she hadn’t thought was possible. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her body close to his so that she could feel their hearts beat together.           

“How about a year and a day?”           

“Well, science isn’t exact so I don’t know the actual timeline—“           

Liv kissed him again and that seemed to clue Ravi in to what she meant.           

“A year and a day works,” he nodded eagerly. Liv laughed, and knew that all would be right as long as she had him by her side.           

 


End file.
